Thursday, May 24, 2018

An Overseas Move With My Child With Special Needs

I've been on hiatus from this blog the past few months, for good reason: My family recently moved from the Netherlands back to the United States. We made some lovely memories during our 3 years abroad, but ultimately my husband and I felt that we could provide a better life for our 4-year-old son, who has cerebral palsy, in the U.S.—specifically, in the Boston area. There, we would have access to more resources in English, including a large variety of English-language speech therapists to choose from, which we just didn't have abroad. Plus, we'd have access to top-notch doctors, public education that is more inclusive, and a community of friendly people who accept my son for who he is. (The Netherlands is a lovely country that does indeed have some of these things, just not to the extent that we wanted or needed.)And so, my husband found a job in the Boston area, we bought our first house, we sold or donated all of our furniture and a significant portion of our other belongings, and in late March, we flew to Boston.

I've been enjoying setting up our new house, and now that we're more settled, I'm excited to get back into blogging. Upcoming posts will include topics such as things I'm doing at home to encourage my son's development, my experiences in the Dutch versus American health care systems, and tips for managing life as a parent of a child with special needs.Thanks for reading, and until next time!